Flute/Piccolo
Cass Barraza
Elaika Janin Celemen
Joanna Huang
Sophie Kim*
Felisha Kuo
Elian Lei
Sammy Main
Alfredo Morán
Maia Rosenbaum
Ryan David Rusch*
Emily Rusting
Kylie Tang

* = Piccolo

Oboe
Elise Faux
Matthew Link

Bassoon
Sophia Ji

Clarinet
Rachel Alazar^
Noah Amancio
Natalie Bachman
Elias Alvarado Bush
Aiden Chan
Skyler Coleman
Aya Furuta
Adam Gilberti+
Damien Ha
Colin House
Sarah Huang
Selina Z. Juang
Samuel Kunowski
Rachel Lei
Vincent Palomo-Reyes
Ava Rosenberg
Edward Tang
Ian Zolynas

^ = Bass
+ = Contra

Saxophone
Ben Bonsall
Kellen Clancy
Andre Fabian
Joshua Huang
Victor Imo
Nora Giselle Galindo
Adam Kakuk
Meena Khan
Daniel Lee
Tony Luo
Qimiao Li
Alannah Linden
Holly C. Perez
Isabelle Preston
Jackson Tabish
Wyatt Wu

Horn
Ginah Banks
Ryland Goldman
Matthew Graves
Julian Montoya
Patricia Yu

Trumpet
Jesse Chi
Eva Fiedler
Ryan Heiden
Samuel Levy
Stanley Lim
Isabella McRae
Fabian Javier Ramirez
Chris Sohn
Adam Sondik

Trombone
Lily Crook
Jonathan Haimowitz
Jacob Ryan
Spencer Zheng

Euphonium
Jamiel Liu
Caitlyn Lo
Edson Smith

Tuba
Johanna Bai
Stanley Chow
Malakai Espinosa
Alice Knystautas
Edward Lau

Percussion
Lucas Chen
Catherine Keyser
Nury Lee
Jonathan Wu

Flute/Piccolo
Nayeon Cho
Jake Jacobsen
Amanda Aiyu Lee*
Emily Park*
Petunia Rizo*

* = Piccolo

Oboe
Cayden Bloomer*
Karen Clark
Kate Fallon
Andrew Pahadi
Adelle Rodkey*

* = English Horn

Bassoon
Abigail Brendza*
Aaron Colón*
Adam Moss

* = Contrabassoon

Clarinet
Cyrus Asasi
Michelle Benitez
Adam Gilberti+
Josh Kalinowski
Max Kaminsky
Esther Kim
Aria McCauley
Kai Nakkim^
Alexander Parlee*
Devin Walsh^

* = E-flat
^ = Bass
+ = Contra

Saxophone
Matthew Chavez
Catrina Currier
Breanna Kim
Daniel Reyes-Velarde
Owen Richards
Ella Scoville
Aidan Tatlonghari

Horn
Noah Arst
Em Ellis
Julian Dohi
Drew Slipka
Abraham Zaman

Trumpet
Christian I Cruz Morales
Saúl Gutierrez
McCartney Hutchinson
Andrew Smith
Sean Zender

Trombone
Calvin Chen
Kenji Fujimoto
Ryan Heisinger
Reuben Molina

Euphonium
Jillian Ran
Diego Vogel

Tuba
Samuel Adam
Leigha Linder
Bradley Stires

Percussion
Madison Bottenberg
Robby Good
Erica Hou
Matthew LeFebvre
Frankie Peacock
Viraj Sonawala

Harp
Jillian Risigari-Gai Lopez

Piano
Ashley Chen
Yuda Jiang

Banjo
Caleb Virkstis

Allan R. McMurray is an internationally acclaimed artist, conductor, teacher, author and collaborator. He has conducted professional orchestras, ballet, opera and contemporary chamber ensembles, but it is his passion for wind music and the teaching of conducting that has inspired the majority of his artistic career. As Professor of Conducting Emeritus and Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, Professor McMurray has been recognized on four continents as one of the leading conductors of wind ensembles and teachers of conducting. In demand as a visiting artist, he has guest conducted and taught conducting in over 200 colleges and conservatories internationally. Professor McMurray is a past president of the College Band Directors National Association, for 25 years hosted the CBDNA Conducting Symposium and in 2019 he was honored with CBDNA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Since his retirement from the University of Colorado in 2013 McMurray has been active as a guest conductor, speaker and teacher of conducting in Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Singapore, Thailand, and at universities and music conventions throughout the United States. In the Spring of 2023, in recognition of his international impact on the teaching of conducting , the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents Awarded Professor McMurray the University Medal.

John Alan Carnahan is a sought-after conductor, composer, clinician, and author. He has conducted ensembles nationally and internationally at prestigious music conferences including the College Band Directors National Association National and Regional Conferences, the American Bandmasters Association National Conference, and internationally in Korea, Japan, and Europe. The Los Angeles Times, hailed his Bob Cole Conservatory of Music University Wind Symphony as “…thoroughly disciplined and euphonious!”

Professor Carnahan has guest conducted numerous All-State Honor Bands, university bands, and professional ensembles nationally and internationally. In addition, he served as a music performance consultant for the renowned Dallas Brass.

As an award-winning composer, his music is performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. His works have been featured in numerous publications including the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series and the Band Masterworks series.

As a clinician, his innovative and thought-provoking presentations on ensemble rehearsal techniques and conducting have been presented across the globe, including the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL.

As an author, his book The Wind Band Sound-A Definitive Guide to Ensemble Intonation has become a standard text on the subject. The book is the first of a three-part The Wind Band Sound series publication.

Dwayne S. Milburn (b. 1963) is a native of Baltimore, Maryland. He is a 1986 graduate of UCLA (BFA in Music) and a 1992 graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music (MM in Orchestral Conducting). He received his PhD in Music from UCLA in 2009. In 1993, Dr. Milburn began his career as one of only twenty-four commissioned officer conductors in the Army Band program. After assignments that included The US Army Band “Pershing’s Own” (Washington, DC), The US Army Field Band (Fort Meade, MD) and the Army Bands Liaison to US Army Central Command (Camp Arifjan, Kuwait), he became the Commander of the US Army Europe Band and Chorus (Sembach, Germany). Dr. Milburn retired from the Army in 2018 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and received the German Army Cross in Silver and the Presidential Legion of Merit. In addition to his responsibilities as a Lecturer in Music at UCLA, Dr. Milburn is in great demand as a conductor, composer, arranger, and clinician. He currently serves as the Music Director and Conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of St. Matthew’s in Pacific Palisades, CA. He has over 20 published works for choir, symphonic band, and orchestra.

David Kaplan, pianist, has been called “excellent and adventurous” by The New York Times, and praised by the Boston Globe for “grace and fire” at the keyboard. As orchestra soloist, he has appeared with the Britten Sinfonia at London’s Barbican and Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin at the Philharmonie, and next year makes debuts with the Symphony Orchestras of Hawaii and San Antonio. As recitalist, he has performed at the Ravinia Festival, Sarasota Opera House, Music on Main in Vancouver, Strathmore, Washington’s National Gallery, and New York’s Carnegie and Merkin Halls. ​Kaplan has consistently drawn critical acclaim for creative programs that interweave classical and contemporary repertoire, often featuring newly commissioned works. As a guest artist of Piano Spheres at Los Angeles’ Zipper Hall, he recently premiered “Quasi una Fantasia,” a program exploring the grey area between composition and improvisation through works by Anthony Cheung, Christopher Cerrone, and Andrea Casarrubios, together with Couperin, Beethoven, Schumann, Saariaho, Ligeti, and his own improvisations. Kaplan’s “New Dances of the League of David,” a recital infusing Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze with 16 new works by composers including Augusta Read Thomas, Marcos Balter, Caroline Shaw, and Andrew Norman was cited among the “Best Classical Music Performances of 2015” by The New York Times. Balancing solo performances with meaningful collaborations, Kaplan has played with the Attacca, Ariel, Enso, Hausman, and Tesla String Quartets. As a core member of Decoda, the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall, he performs frequently in New York’s most exciting venues, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to National Sawdust, as well as creating innovative residencies as far away as Abu Dhabi, Mexico, and Scotland. He is a veteran of numerous distinguished chamber music festivals and series, such as the Seattle Chamber Music, Bard, and Mostly Mozart Festivals, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest, and Barge Music. He is an alumnus of Tanglewood and the Ravinia-Steans Institute, and performs regularly as an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program, including with Itzhak Perlman at Miami’s Arsht Center. He serves as Co-Artistic Director of Lyrica Chamber Music, a community series in Morris County, NJ currently in its 36th season. Kaplan has recorded for Naxos and Marquis Records, as well as for Nonesuch as part of his longstanding duo with pianist/composer Timo Andres. In September 2023, Bright Shiny Things will release Vent, Kaplan’s debut album with his wife, flutist Catherine Gregory, to include music by Gabriela Lena Frank, David Lang, Mr. Andres, Schubert, and Prokofiev. Kaplan was a student of the late Claude Frank, and previously studied with Walter Ponce and Miyoko Lotto. His mentors over the years have included Anton Kuerti, Richard Goode, and Emanuel Ax. He studied conducting at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Lutz Köhler, under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship from 2008-2010. The recipient of a DMA from Yale University in 2014, Kaplan earned his Bachelor from UCLA, where he has also served on the faculty since 2016, and now is the Assistant Professor and Inaugural Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance. ​David is proud to be a Yamaha/Bösendorfer Artist, and when at home in Los Angeles, he enjoys practicing on his childhood piano, a 1908 Hamburg Steinway model A. Away from the keyboard, he loves cartooning and cooking, and is mildly obsessed with classic cars.

Michael T. James (he/him) is currently pursuing a doctor of musical arts degree in wind conducting at UCLA, where he serves as a teaching assistant for the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Marching Band. He brings with him an extensive background in public school teaching in Washington state. He has led students in performances at the Washington Music Educators Conference, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has been recognized by the 5th Avenue Theatre (Seattle) and Jazz at Lincoln Center. James earned a bachelor of music education summa cum laude from Pacific Lutheran University and a master of arts in conducting from Truman State University. His primary conducting teachers include Travis J. Cross, Dan Peterson, and Raydell Bradley.

Nicholas M. Junker (he/him) is currently pursuing a master’s degree in wind conducting with Travis J. Cross at UCLA. Nicholas received his bachelor of music education from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, where he studied conducting with John Stewart and percussion with Jeffery Crowell. During this time, Nicholas served as the director for the University Athletic Band as well as the drum captain and percussion arranger for the Blugold Marching Band. His notable performances include appearances at CBDNA, ITEC, and PASIC. Nicholas spent five years as the band director at Ellsworth High School in Wisconsin, where he established a marching program and student leadership program. This leadership program was the basis of his presentation at the 2019 Wisconsin state music convention. From 2019-2022, Nicholas worked with the Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps on the administrative team.